For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I am starting to feel better and, God willing, should experience steady improvement to full recovery in a little over a week. I thank those of you have been praying for me.
There is no point in trying to educate a fool, they are not interested in learning. There is a very basic truth in this proverb. You cannot educate those who have no desire to learn. It does not matter how much money you spend on it. It will not result in them learning anything. Of course, there is another truth hidden in this proverb. Only a fool has no desire to learn. No matter why you think that you do not need to learn more, if you do think that you are a fool.
I always struggle with what to write about this psalm. It is an emotionally powerful psalm, but one with which I do not identify. I am glad that I have not experienced the deep sorrow expressed in this psalm and do not desire to see that changed. Yet I know that, because of that, I am unable to understand certain aspects of God’s mercy.
In this passage we have the first, and perhaps only, account of men being called to ministry by the Church. A group of leaders of the Church in Antioch of Syria met regularly to pray and fast. One day, the Holy Spirit led them to the conclusion that Saul and Barnabas were being called to a special mission. The group then fasted and prayed about what that mission was. Once it became clear what God’s mission was for Barnabas and Saul, they laid hands on them and sent them on their way. Notice that it was not Barnabas or Saul who suggested they were being called (although something like that happens sometimes as well). The message from the Holy Spirit grew out of the group spending time together in prayer, worshiping the Lord.
Barnabas and Saul went to the island of Cyprus and preached the Gospel. As they traveled across the island they met a Jewish sorcerer named Elymas, who was an attendant to the proconsul. It is not clear how the proconsul heard of Barnabas and Saul, but when he did, he wanted to hear them for himself. Elymas did not want the proconsul to believe and interfered with their conversation with the proconsul. Saul confronted Elymas directly, and for the first time is referred to as Paul. A couple of years back I looked into the meaning of “Paul” and discovered that it means “small” or “humble”. Ever since, when I read this passage I imagine Elymas being a tall, imposing person and Paul as a diminutive, mousy kind of person (in body type). If this is true, I think it explains a lot about why Paul was such an effective evangelist. Paul did not convince people by the force of his personality, nor by his “presence”. Rather Paul convinced people through the power of the Holy Spirit.
I enjoy the stories of Ben-Hadad attacking Samaria. In both stories, Ben-Hadad lost because of his arrogance. The first time he deployed his army while he and his commanders were drunk. Then he tried to capture the Israelite army alive rather than just defeat it. The second time, he convinced himself that he had lost the first campaign because God was a god of the hills. He was sure that he could defeat the Israelites in the plains, where he believed that God would be unable to help them.
I always have trouble with this psalm. I do not see what message it carries for me and I pray that the main message I see in it never does apply to my life. Perhaps it serves as a reminder to be sympathetic to those who have been driven from their homeland and forced to make a life for themselves elsewhere.
The first thing that jumps out at me in this passage is that the leaders of the church in Antioch of Syria were worshiping the Lord and fasting when the Holy Spirit spoke to them. Their response to the message from the Holy Spirit was to fast and pray some more. A few weeks back at a men’s meeting, the discussion revolved around why we do not see more results from our ministries. Perhaps the answer to that question is that we do not do enough fasting. I know that I do not fast often enough. I feel called to enter into prayer and fasting. I know that when I fast I usually become difficult to live with and do not deal well with others. Which means that I have to choose times to fast carefully. Despite this challenge, I must make the time to do so.
There are several lessons for us in this passage. The first is that sometimes when someone makes demands on us, they are doing so in order to provoke a confrontation. If that is the case, when we agree to their demands they will merely increase them. In this story, Ben-hadad made threats about what he would do after his victory that were ill-conceived, because when the battle came he lost. Despite losing the first time he faced King Ahab’s army, Ben-hadad entered into the second battle with over-confidence. This over-confidence led to his defeat a second time. After the second battle, we learn another lesson. Rather than defeat Ben-hadad once and for all, Ahab released him to go back and rebuild his armies in order to attack yet again.
I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for over a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Ben-hadad, the king of Samaria, besieged Samaria. He sent a demand to King Ahab for all of his silver, gold ,wives and children. King Ahab agreed to the demand. Ben-hadad then demanded the right to search the city for anything they might consider valuable. This demand was too much for King Ahab and the elders of Samaria so they repeated their willingness to meet Ben-hadad’s first demand but refused the second. Ben-hadad responded that he would completely destroy Samaria. King Ahab replied to this that a warrior preparing for battle should not boast like a warrior who had already won. Ben-hadad received this reply as he and his commanders were drinking their tents. Ben-hadad immediately ordered the attack.
Here we have a lesson in arrogance. Ben-hadad had brought an overwhelming force to attack Samaria. However, he was so sure of his ability that he demanded more than the people of Samaria were willing to give, even with their lives on the line. Then to compound this problem he launched his attack while he and his commanders were drunk. The passage goes on to tell us the results of Ben-hadad’s decisions. As Ben-hadad gathered his forces to attack a prophet of God came to Ahab and told him that God was going to give Ben-hadad’s forces into his hands. The prophet further told Ahab that the key to his victory was to attack fist using his auxiliary forces. When Ben-hadad’s scouts reported that forces were coming out of Samaria, he ordered his troops to capture them alive, whether they had come out in peace or to battle (yet another sign of his arrogance). Israel’s auxiliary troops defeated the front lines of Ben-hadad’s force. This spread fear throughout his entire army and the Israelites defeated them decisively. Ben-hadad and some of his elite commanders managed to escape.
The prophet who had predicted victory to Ahab told him to start preparing because Ben-hadad would attack again the following spring. When Ben-hadad got back to Damascus, his officials told him that his army had lost because Israel’s gods were gods of the hills. They said that if Ben-hadad did battle on the plains, Israel’s gods would be unable to help them and he would be victorious. Ben-hadad took their advice and built another army like the one he had just lost. The following year he launched an invasion of Israel, being careful to stay on the plains. The man of God came to Ahab and told him that because Ben-hadad and his people thought that God would have no power on the plains, God was going to once more hand them over to Ahab and his army. When battle was joined, the Israelites once more were overwhelmingly victorious. This time Ben-hadad was unable to escape. He threw himself on Ahab’s mercy and offered Ahab a treaty. Ahab accepted the treaty and allowed Ben-hadad to go free. The man of God who had predicted Ahab’s victory confronted him over allowing Ben-hadad to go free.
At another time, King Ahab attempted to buy a vineyard from a man named Naboth. Naboth refused to sell the vineyard because it had been passed down from his ancestors. When King Ahab got home, he threw a temper tantrum by refusing to eat and turning his face to the wall. When Jezebel asked him what was wrong and he told her she reassured him that she would get Naboth’s vineyard for him. After all, he was the king of Israel. Jezebel then used Ahab’s authority to arrange with the elders of Jezreel (the city in which Naboth lived) to have Naboth accused of blasphemy and stoned to death. When Jezebel received word that Naboth was dead, she told Ahab and told him to go claim the vineyard. Ahab did so.
God sent Elijah to confront Ahab. God told Elijah to prophecy to Ahab that he and his family would all meet disaster. Through Elijah, God told Ahab that he would destroy his family just as He had destroyed the families of Jeroboam and Baasha. In response to this message from God, Ahab began dressing in sackcloth and behaving meekly. God sent another message to Elijah saying that He would hold off on His judgment until the end of Ahab’s lifetime.
When Barnabas and Saul finished their mission to Jerusalem they returned to Antioch with John Mark. One day as Barnabas and Saul were fasting and worshiping the Lord with other leaders of the Church in Antioch the Holy Spirit led the other leaders to dedicate Barnabas and Saul to a special work to which God had called them. The leaders did some more fasting and praying, then they laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them on their way.
Barnabas and Saul sailed to Cyprus accompanied by John Mark. They traveled across the island preaching the word of God in Jewish synagogues until they came to Paphos. In Paphos they met a Jewish sorcerer named Bar-Jesus (or Elymas), who was an attendant to the proconsul, who was named Sergius Paulus. The proconsul wanted to hear what Barnabas and Saul had to say, so he sent for them. Elymas argued against the teaching of Barnabas and Saul attempting to keep the proconsul from accepting their teaching. Saul confronted Elymas. This passage reads to me as if Saul did what we would call today “getting in Elymas’ face.” It is in this context that Luke tells us for the first time that Saul is also called Paul. Paul told Elymas that he was full of deceit and the he perverted the ways of the Lord. Because of this, Paul told Elymas that he was going to be blind for a time. When the proconsul saw Paul’s prediction come true there in front of him, he became a believer.
Last year, when I read this passage I touched on the fact that the name Paul means “little”. The fact that Luke first uses that name for Saul/Paul in this setting gives me the image of Elymas as a towering, dominating figure of a man (although there is not really anything to tell us that he was) and Paul as a short, physically unimpressive person. I imagine Elymas using his height to intimidate others and get his way. Then in this situation, Paul, the little wimpy-looking guy, becomes filled with righteous indignation and, all of a sudden, takes over the room by the force of his personality.
There is one thing that really struck me as I read this passage today. It is something that I have heard other people talk about, but it is something that we often overlook when we read the Bible. As we go through this passage, Luke included lots of detail that can be (and has been) checked. Barnabas and Saul went from Antioch in Syria to Seleucia from where they sailed to Salamis on the island of Cyprus. They crossed the island to Paphos, where they met the proconsul named Sergius Paulus. These are identifiable locations and the proconsul is somebody who was likely to be known, by reputation at least, to Luke’s readers. This passage concerns the sorts of details that the website snopes.com tells us to look for to see if a story is true or urban legend. If it lacks the kind of details which Luke included, it is probably an urban legend, myth, or just plain old folklore. Rather than reading like a myth, the book of Acts reads like a story that was intended to be verified. Luke is telling his readers, “Here are the details, go ask the people who were there. They will confirm what I am saying.”
Today’s psalm speaks of the anguish experienced by the Jews when they were in exile in Babylon. In some ways, we are in a similar situation today. We are in exile from our home while we are here in this world. Just as the psalmist writes of the importance of remembering Jerusalem and the desire to return, so we must remember that heaven is our home and desire to be there rather than here.
However, there is a shortcoming to applying this psalm to our situation. Because even while we are in this world, we are in the Kingdom of God. While in some respects we are in exile from our home, in other respects our home is where God has placed us to do His work.
Fools spend money to obtain wise advice that they fail to heed. As I read this, I thought of those who pay for a college education and then do not go to class.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
The king of Aram, Ben-hadad, mobilized his army against Israel. He demanded tribute from King Ahab in exchange for not attacking Samaria. King Ahab agrees to pay the tribute demanded. Ben-hadad then demands the right to search the city for any valuables. This is too far for King Ahab and the Israelites, they refuse this demand. Ben-hadad and his allied commanders were so confident of their victory over Ahab that while they were making demands of Ahab they were drinking heavily. A prophet of God went to Ahab and told him that God was going to give him victory over Ben-hadad. Ahab asks him what strategy he should use and then follows it. Ahab launches the attack while Ben-hadad and his allied commanders are drunk. After the battle, the prophet of God warns Ahab that Ben-hadad will attack him again the following spring.
Ben-hadad’s advisers tell him that they lost to Ahab because the God of Israel is a god of the hills, that if they attacked on the plains they would be victorious. Ben-hadad follows their advice and attacks again, just as the prophet had told King Ahab. The prophet of God tells King Ahab that because the Arameans thought that God could not fight for Israel on the plains, He was going to defeat them again. After the complete defeat of the Aramean army the second time, King Ahab captures Ben-hadad. Ahab makes a treaty with Ben-hadad and releases him. God sends a prophet to tell Ahab that Israel will suffer because he released Ben-hadad.
At some point after this, King Ahab decides that he wants to turn a vineyard into a vegetable garden. There is only one problem, somebody else owns it. Ahab goes to the owner, Naboth, and offers to trade another vineyard for it, or buy it outright if Naboth prefers. Naboth refuses because the vineyard has been in his family for generations. Ahab throws a temper tantrum and refuses to eat. When Jezebel, his wife, asks him why he won’t eat, he tells her that it is because Naboth will not let him have Naboth’s vineyard. Reading this passage, King Ahab sounds to me like a spoiled child crying to his mommy because another child will not do what he wants. And Jezebel acts like that mommy, telling Ahab not to worry about it, she will get him what he wants. Jezebel sends out letters in Ahab’s name to the leaders of the town where Naboth lived commanding them to bring false accusations against Naboth and execute him.
God sends Elijah to confront King Ahab for having Naboth killed so that he could take his vineyard. Elijah tells Ahab that because of his actions regarding Naboth, his entire family will die horrible deaths. When Ahab hears God’s judgement, he fasts and dresses in sackcloth. God tells Elijah that because of Ahab’s expression of remorse, He will withhold His judgement on Ahab’s family until after Ahab’s death.
While Barnabas and Saul are praying with other Church leaders in Antioch, the Holy Spirit inspires one or more of the leaders to propose sending them out on a missions trip. After further fasting and praying, the leaders do just that. The passage does not tell us who initially proposed the missionary journey, but it tells us that after it was first brought up the men fasted and prayed to be sure that it was indeed God’s guidance. Barnabas and Saul set sail for Salamis on the island of Cyprus. When they landed in Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the Gospel. They traveled across the island going from town to town preaching the Gospel until they reached Paphos. In Paphos, the governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him. The governor had a Jewish sorcerer (unlike in the case of Simon the sorcerer in Samaria, the passage makes no mention of any powers that this man had) as one of his attendants. This Jewish sorcerer, named Elymas, attempts to convince the governor to not pay any attention to the message from Barnabas and Saul. Saul looks the sorcerer in the eye and calls him a son of the devil and tells him that he will be struck blind. Elymas is immediately struck blind. This encounter is the first time that Luke mentions that Saul is also called Paul and after this he refers to him exclusively as Paul. I think this is interesting because the name Paul means “small”, or “humble”. It had never occurred to me before, but I think that Luke mentions that Saul was called Paul here to point out that he was not physically intimidating, that he was instead a small man that others often believed they could intimidate. So, this was Paul standing up to what was probably a physically larger man and with the power of the Holy Spirit forcing him to back down. It is also worth noting that up until this point Luke has said “Barnabas and Saul”, from this point forward it is Paul who is listed first.
The psalmist here speaks of the sorrow which the exiles in Babylon felt. He expresses that Jerusalem is his joy. In the same way, we should view the Kingdom of God as our joy. Both the expression of it here on this earth through the functioning of the Holy Spirit and its future expression in Heaven as we sit before the throne of God. We need to live constantly aware of the dichotomy of living in a foreign land and yet in the Kingdom of God. Our first loyalty is not as citizens of any nation on this earth. Our first loyalty is as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
